Train strikes have killed 4 statewide in the past month

THE ISSUE: Transit officials say there is a lack of public education and awareness of safety around train tracks.

THE IMPACT: Train strikes killed 20 people statewide in fiscal 2017, a 150 percent increase over the previous year.

Gerry Tuoti Wicked Local Newsbank Editor

When a Phillips Academy Andover student wandered onto commuter rail tracks in Andover Sept. 26, he became the fourth person in Massachusetts to be killed by a train in the past month.

“We’re looking at how do we reduce those numbers,” said MBTA transit police officer Dana Nye, statewide coordinator for the national nonprofit Operation Lifesaver. “There is a concerted effort going on to collect the data and analyze it. There is a very committed effort we’re strongly working on to address the issue.”

Earlier in September, people were stuck and killed by trains in Natick, Dedham and Beverly.

Statewide, there has been a sharp spike in fatal train strikes in the past year, according to the Federal Rail Administration. Data from the FRA’s Office of Safety Analysis shows 20 people were killed by trains in Massachusetts in fiscal 2017, a 12-month span which ended June 30. That’s a 150 percent increase over the eight deaths reported in fiscal 2016. In the previous fiscal year, five people were killed in train strikes statewide.

While some of the fatal train strikes are suicides, others are accidental, Nye said. Since investigations can often take a long time, it’s difficult to say with any degree of certainty what percentage of fatal strikes are accidental, she said.

The recent incident in Andover came as Massachusetts was engaging in a public awareness campaign linked to National Rail Safety Week. The initiative is run by Operation Lifesaver in partnership with the MBTA and Keolis Commuter Services, which operates the MBTA commuter rail. Keolis and the MBTA have also partnered with Samaritans in a suicide prevention awareness campaign. The campaign includes posting signs at train stops and speaking with commuters about safety.

Many people, according to Keolis spokesman Tory Mazzola, incorrectly assume they’ll hear an approaching train in plenty of time to move out of the way. But the sound of an approaching modern train, he explained, can be deceptive.

“You often can’t hear a train until it’s too late,” Mazzola said.

Additionally, approaching trains often appear to be moving slower than they actually are, according to safety experts.

“There’s a time distortion, where the trains often are traveling faster than you think they are,” Nye said. “If you look at a plane in the sky, it doesn’t look like it’s going fast, but you and I know they’re going several-hundred miles per hour.”

An additional factor for pedestrians to consider, Nye said, is that trains often require a long distance to stop.

Relying on a commuter rail schedule to determine when the tracks are clear is another mistake people could make, Mazzola said. Freight trains often share the tracks with passenger trains. Maintenance work or issues with switches could also lead to trains traveling in either direction on a section of track.

Rail Safety Week includes a series of awareness and outreach campaigns to remind people that walking on train tracks is trespassing and can lead to injury or death.

“There’s a lack of awareness and knowledge,” Nye said. “Anytime someone is on the tracks, it’s a danger to themselves and others.”

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